37 years ago our forefathers in whose symbolic shadow we stand signed the
Divorce Act into law. This momentous decree came as a beacon of hope to
millions of Canadian families who had been seared in the flames of withering
injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of inequality
and persecution. But almost 4 decades later Canadian families have not been
freed from their bonds

Four decades later Canadian families are still crippled by the manacles of
sexual segregation and the chains of discrimination. Four decades later,
parents and their families may still live on lonely islands of poverty in the
midst of a vast ocean of material prosperity. Four decades later the family
has been reduced to languishing in the corners of Canadian society and the non
custodial father finds himself in exile in his own land.

S

o we have come here today to dramatize an appalling
condition. In a sense we have come to our nation's capital to cash a check.
When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the
Constitution and the Divorce Act, they were signing a promissory note to which
every Canadian was to fall heir.

T

his note was a promise that all men would be
guaranteed the inalienable rights of life, liberty, and security. It is
obvious today that Canada has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as the
protection of itís families is concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred
obligation, Canada has given the people in particular fathers, a bad check
which has come back marked "insufficient funds." But we refuse to
believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there
are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

S

o we have come to cash this check -- a check that
will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice for
our families. We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind Canada of the
fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off
or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to rise from
the dark and desolate valley of segregating families to the sunlit path of
equality and justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all
of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of
sexual injustice to the solid rock of family values.

I

t would be fatal for the nation to overlook the
urgency of the moment and to underestimate the determination of fatherhood.
This sweltering summer of our legitimate discontent will not pass until there
is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality. Two thousand and five is
not an end, but a beginning. Those who hope that fathers just needed to blow
off steam and will now be content will have a rude awakening if the nation
returns to business as usual. There will be neither rest nor tranquility in
Canada until all parents are granted their full and unalienable rights.

T

he whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the
foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there
is something that I must say to my people who stand on the barren threshold
which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful
place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our
thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

W

e must forever conduct our struggle on the high
plane of dignity and discipline. we must not allow our creative protest to
degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the
majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

T

he marvelous new militancy which springs from our
very being must not lead us to distrust and hatred in a furtherance of the
sexual apartheid that the few have sought to prolong for their own benefit, -
be it power, esteem or merely greed. For many of our sisters, as evidenced by
their ongoing support in these efforts, have come to realize that their
destiny is tied up with our own and their freedom is inextricably bound to
ours

W

e cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make
the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who
are asking the devotees of family rights, "When will you be
satisfied?" we can never be satisfied as long as our spirits, heavy with
the sorrow of loss and grief, cannot gain equality in the courts. We cannot be
satisfied with legislated downward mobility. Enshrined judicial prejudice. We
can never be satisfied as long as a father cannot see his own child and is
stripped of parental rights by virtue of his sex . No, no, we are not
satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters
and righteousness like a mighty stream.

I

am not unmindful that some have come out of great
trials and tribulations. Some have come fresh from narrow cells. Some have
come from areas where your quest for freedom left them battered by the storms
of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. We have been
the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that
unearned suffering is redemptive.

C

all back to Nova Scotia, call back to Quebec, call
back to Saskatchewan, to British Columbia, to the slums, ghettos, and prisons
where our brothers have been exiled by judicial and legislative atrocities,
knowing that somehow this situation can and will be changed. Let us not wallow
in the valley of despair. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the
difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream. It is a
dream deeply rooted in the Canadian values.

I

have a dream that one day this nation will rise up
and live out the true meaning of its creed: "Equality under the rule of
law and supremacy of God." I have a dream that one day on the foothills
hills of Alberta, sons and daughters will be freely able to visit with their
parents. I have a dream that one day even the province of Manitoba, a prairie
state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will be
transformed into an oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream that my
children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by their
sex and income but by the content of their character. I have a dream today.

I

have a dream that one day the province of Ontario,
whose premiers lips are presently dripping with the words of interposition and
nullification, will be transformed into a situation where little boys and
girls will be able to join hands with their parents and walk together as a
true family. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley
shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places
will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the
glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This
is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to all. With this faith we
will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this
faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a
beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work
together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to
stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.

T

his will be the day when all of God's children will
be able to sing with a new meaning, "O Canada the true north strong and
free." And if Canada is to be a great nation, this must become true. So
let freedom ring from the prodigious hilltops of Newfoundland. Let freedom
ring from the mighty cities of Ontario. Let freedom ring from the great
prairies and arctic plains Let freedom ring from the snowcapped Rockies of
British Columbia! Let freedom ring from the fishing villages of the Maritimes
But not only that; let freedom ring through the halls of justice in this great
country as was intended by our forefathers in their promise to us., Let
freedom ring from every mountain and valley. Let freedom and justice ring.

W

hen we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from
every village and every hamlet, from every town and every city, we will be
able to speed up that day when all of God's children, men and women and
children, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old
spiritual, " We shall overcome!", - and no man or woman or
government shall ever again deny us our unalienable rights as parents again.